Halee Ann Mehlbauer, 40, of Tooele, Utah, was sentenced today to 15 months’ imprisonment after she fraudulently obtained approximately $177,030 in COVID-19 Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) Loans, along with her codefendant, Timothy Lopez, which they did not qualify for them. She was also sentenced to two years’ supervised release and ordered by the court to pay $177,030 in restitution, of which $48,507 is to be paid jointly with Lopez.
The COVID-19 PPP Loans were provided to small businesses for funding to meet specific obligations, including payroll and rent during the pandemic.
The sentence, imposed by U.S. District Court Judge David Barlow, comes after Mehlbauer pleaded guilty on September 24, 2025, to wire fraud and money laundering. Her codefendant, Lopez, was sentenced to time served.
According to court documents and statements made at Mehlbauer’s change of plea and sentencing hearings, beginning about July 15, 2020, and continuing to about January 15, 2022, Mehlbauer engaged in a Paycheck Protection Program Loan scheme and fraudulently obtained money through small lenders and the Small Business Administration.
“Every dollar that Mehlbauer received in PPP-Loan funds was taxpayer money,” said U.S. Attorney Melissa Holyoak of the District of Utah. “Mehlbauer fraudulently obtained funds meant for honest business owners faced with weathering the storm of a global pandemic and her fraud will not go unpunished. It is our hope her sentence deters others from taking advantage of government programs.”
She did so by providing false information on multiple PPP-Loan and other lender applications and provided supporting documents in the name of nonexistent businesses. Mehlbauer knowingly defrauded the PPP Loan Program alone of at least $177,030.